‘Sec 301 may give India an edge over US in trade negotiations’, says Piyush Goyal

In a fireside chat with Financial Express Editor Shyamal Majumdar at the Financial Express Best Banks Awards here, the minister said US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will visit India in the next two weeks for further discussions on the much-anticipated India-US interim trade deal. Earlier, he had indicated an agreement could be reached by July. “So this (Section 301 investigations) is really a mechanism being created, given their (the US’) constraints that the Congress is not going to support any of their actions (on reciprocal tariffs)… they are trying to create a competitive edge for India. So I don’t think (we need to) worry about Section 301, we’ll tackle it, it’s our responsibility,” he said.

Under the Section 301 of the US Trade Act, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has recently proposed a 12.5% tariff for imports from India, while threatening 10-12.5% tariffs on 59 other countries on similar grounds of alleged lack of progress on prohibiting imports with forced-labour content. “The (Section 301) investigation is directed at a particular country,” Goyal said without naming China.

The minister said India was keenly awaiting what kind of tariffs would ultimately be imposed under Section 301. “We will protect India’s interests and I’m very confident that the (India-US trade) deal will come through. It’ll be a good deal,” he said.

India and the US wrapped up another round of discussions on the interim trade deal in New Delhi last Thursday, seeking to bridge a gap in their respective positions, even as both sides said the talks were in the last leg.

Goyal, however, reiterated that “India stands for fair and equitable trade and any deal it would sign with trading partners, would be “balanced,” and that country won’t negotiate with deadlines set. He noted in a world where geopolitics is in a flux, “realignment of friends and friendships” would be inevitable.

Replying to a question on whether investments from China could be facilitated further given India’s growing trade deficit with that country and the critical inputs required for new-age manufacturing, Goyal said the government “has no problem with investments from China so long as they are in the desirable sectors and not meant for opportunistic takeover of Indian assets.”

In March, the government relaxed the conditions governing investments from countries sharing land borders with India, by allowing fast-track approvals for proposals in critical sectors like capital goods, electronic components, polysilicon and ingot-wafers. Proposals involving up to 49% FDI from these countries in the identified sectors are now under a fast-track mode, with approvals being granted in 60 days.

The minister, however, ruled out any revisiting of India’s decision to stay out of the China-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), saying that it was incomprehensible in the first place why the then UPA government joined the talks for the 15-country trade bloc, while the country already had preferential trade pacts with most of these countries, except China.

He said the bulging merchandise trade deficit with China — $112.4 billion in 2025-2026 –could be progressively reduced by a multi-pronged strategy, including creating competitive domestic capacities wherever feasible, and cracking down on unfair trade practices like dumping and predatory pricing.

The minister hinted that the UK’s insistence on proceeding with steel import tariff measures after all processes for implementing the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) were almost concluded would lead to India clawing back some concessions it had given in the pact. “On steel, we will have to rebalance with some products which will possibly even hurt the UK businesses. But that’s the nature of trade,” Goyal said. He hinted at “two other issues” that had cropped up closer to the implementation of the bilateral CETA, and one of these was settled in India’s favour in recent Delhi talks.

On March 19, the UK government announced that it will limit tariff-free steel imports from July 1, 2026, reducing overall quota volumes by 60% compared to the steel safeguard measure. Any imports above these levels will subsequently face a 50% tariff.

Goyal ruled out putting any curbs on investors repatriating their investments from India or outbound capital, citing the country’s comfortable foreign exchange reserves and Current Account Deficit (CAD) remaining well under 2%.

“Our financial services are largely about India’s best banks and financial services. We’ve been too inward-looking. We have been content with a large Indian market. We have to shake our conscience, shake ourselves to start exploring world markets,” Goyal said.

The minister, who has concluded nine bilateral trade agreements covering 38 advanced economies accounting for over 65% of the world GDP in the last three and a half years, underlined his preference for preferential trade pacts, saying more deals could be in the pipeline with negotiations under way with Israel, Canada, Chile, Peru, Mexico, Mercosur, South African Customs Union and Eurasian countries.

 Goyal called upon Corporate India “to get out of its comfort zone” and look for investment and business opportunities both in India and abroad. “We have to get out of our comfort zone in every area. I mean, for that matter, whether it’s banking, financial services, taking UPI internationally, publishing, jewellery, construction, education, culture and even sports,” the minister said. Companies ought to examine their investment numbers in addition to calculating market cap.

India will aim for combined goods and services imports of $1 trillion in the current financial year, which requires nearly 16% growth over the $863 billion in shipments registered in 2025-26, the minister said. The target is to achieve exports of $2 trillion by 2030-31 and $6 trillion by 2047.